Crap. Crap. Crap! I ran as fast as I could, but Drew was gaining on me, and FAST! I never resented being 5'3" until that very moment. How am I supposed to outrun someone almost a full foot taller than me?! Somehow, I managed to keep my lead until I reached the parking lot. Yes! I made it to my car! Sweet sweet victory! I started to open my door, but before I could, Drew put his hand on it, keeping it closed. A little intimidated by the good-looking giant hovering over me, I refused to look at him, but I could feel his glare burning holes in the back of my head. He cleared his throat, trying to get my attention, but I kept my eyes on the sky above me. Man, I never noticed how pretty it is. You know what, I think sky blue is my new favorite color. Maybe I'll- "Look at me!" he demanded, hitting the roof of my car while simultaneously taking me out of my sarcastic thoughts. "Woah, woah! Okay, geez, I'm looking at you. Just don't hurt my baby," I said as calmly as I could when I faced him. "This ugly hunk of junk?! Who cares if I hit it?!" He asked, bringing his fists down on it, again. "Dude! I'm serious, cut it out!" I shouted while placing my hands on my hips. "And who are you calling an 'ugly hunk of junk'?! You look disgusting!" I added while incredulously throwing my hands in the air. The hands added a dramatic flair to the insult, despite it not being true. Even with gritty burger smeared all over his face, Drew was still a looker. It's a shame all those good features are wasted on you. "You're gonna clean this off of me," Drew said, using his finger to gesture to his face. His expression was dead serious, but I burst into a laughing fit. He actually thought he was going to tell me what to do.The only thing I wanted to do to his face was place it on the ground and give it a soccer kick. "Pfft, please," I scoffed as I tried to open my door again. I needed my bookbag and it was in there. Drew closed it, AGAIN, before I could get anything out. Then he leaned up against it, completely covering the door. "Dude! Buzz off!" I shouted . You are so close to getting hit, buddy. "And what are you going to do about it?!" he challenged, raising and eyebrow as a smirk grew on his darn near perfect face (for a guy in high school.) Man, if only he wasn't so horrible. Lucky for me, Riley showed up, placing a hand on Drew's shoulder. "Alright, man. Let's just leave the girl alone," he suggested. "Do you see my face?" Drew grumbled, his eyes still focused on me. "Hey, that's your fault! It would have been in my stomach it you hadn't knocked it out my hand!" He didn't even blink at my comment. "Bro, people are watching. And you know you're really just upset about what happened to Leila. Just let Natalie get to her next class." Wow. Riley must've been an animal whisperer, because he sure knew how to calm that beast down. A triumphant smile covered my face when Drew listened to Riley, and got off my car, still obviously pissed, but conveniently less than before. "He should have done that already. I mean, honestly, how entitled do you have to be to think it's okay to assault someone else's car?" Feeling a bit more bold, now that Riley was there, I added in that last quip. "Natalie, just get your stuff and go to class," Riley said, looking at me like I needed to stop talking. I didn't move, crossing my arms and planting my feet firmly on the ground. Yeah, childish, I know. Riley eased his serious expression, replacing it with a pleading one. "Okay, okay. I'm going," I sighed as I raised my hands in surrender. I managed to open my front door WITHOUT Drew closing it, and grabbed my bag. With a single head nod to Riley, I jogged back inside, already six minutes late for third period. Dangit! Yeah, so I was like ten minutes late for Calculus, but the teacher let it slide since it was my first day. Hopefully he wouldn't hear about the argument outside that was the real reason I was late. The rest of my day was pretty uneventful. I got to my last class and managed not to be late. I could tell some people knew about what happened with Drew, but they kept their comments to themselves, which I appreciated. When the final bell rung, I packed my stuff up and headed to my car. When I saw it, I thought back to what Drew said. "Ugly hunk of junk". It is not! My car is cute. It's like one of those adorable old guys you see playing chess in the park. Adorable, not ugly. I was almost to it when Lauren ran in front of me. "Natalie! Natalie, hey! I'm so glad I caught you before you left," she said, pulling me into an awkward hug. She smelt good though, like vanilla and brown sugar. "Hi, Lauren. What's up?" "Well, I heard about what happened during lunch, with you and Drew Collins! I didn't know you were such a boss!" she praised, clapping her hands together. "I'm not a boss," I deflected, putting my bookbag in my backseat. "Uh, yes you are. Nat, everyone is talking about how you pitched literal ground beef at his face!" I couldn't help but cringe at her using my nickname when I barely knew her. It was just so awkward to me. I felt like you should be comfortable with someone before they start calling you by your nickname. The only people that called me "Nat" was my dad, and my old friends from New Jersey. But, I let it slide because Lauren was nice and I didn't want to hurt her feelings. "Well, Drew Collins is a jerk that deserved it," I told her, leaning against my car door. "Oh, he's not that bad," she laughed. "But I can't say I didn't bust a gut from laughing when I heard what you did." "Wait, are you friends with him?" I asked, dread coating my words. I'd hate for both of the people I somewhat saw as potential friends to already be friends with the ogre of LHHS.